Right ho - this is a splendid one: StarShipSofa.com. Came across it on Facebook, so I guess Facebook isn't always and every time an utter and complete waste of everyone's time. (Or do I express myself too strongly? The verdict is still firmly out on that one.) What it is, is a weekly (!) magazine filled with absolute science fiction goodies. I mean really the best of the best, so to say. But it's not something to be read, it's something to be listened to: a podcast. A podcast magazine, in fact. Now there's a thought. And a good one to boot. It works!
I especially enjoy the publisher, Tony C. Smith, with his broad and boisterous Newcastle accent and his invincible good humour when he does his editorials. Good and intelligent stories are fun so why not let it show?
And the writers! Well there's pretty much everybody who's anybody. Neil Gaiman, Larry Niven, Harlan Ellison, Geoff Ryman, Neal Asher, Elizabeth Bear, Spider Robinson, Karen Joy Fowler. To name but a few. There's a quite heartrending contribution by the incomparable Michael Bishop, a story he wrote after his son was killed in the Virginia Tech massacre. And, on a more positive note, there's a story by talented compatriot Hannu Rajaniemi (kudos, young Sir!) called His Master's Voice. But it would be entirely pointless to catalogue all stories. They're legion and they're solid, so there. Don't just take my word for it, check them out for yourself.
But. Here's the thing. What really annoys me. I mean, honestly. Is there any defence? I mean any? Hardly. Don't think so. Couldn't possibly be. What I want to know is: why haven't I been told about this site earlier? How come, to use a very apt Americanism. Who's to blame? Me? (I'll let that slide just this once.) But, luckily, it don't matter none that I'm a johnny-come-lately, all the previous podcasts are accessible, so no harm done really. Easy to download and a pleasure to hear.
But. There are something like a hundred issues of StarShipSofa out there. So no time to loose. Gotta get cracking.
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